But if it gets tripped up on the way to City Council or voter approval, San Diego City Councilman Scott Sherman said Tuesday that the alternative may end up in “paralysis.”

Speaking at a breakfast forum sponsored by the local chapter of the Urban Land Institute, Sherman said the city faces an annual operational subsidy at the 50-year-old stadium of $11 million or more and the historic and architectural value of the award-winning facility may not be enough to justify its retention — “At the end of the day, it’s a building,” he said.

“If something along these lines doesn’t happen down there — and I don’t know if it’ll be this one or something else — you’re going to see what happens in the city most of the time, which is paralysis by analysis,” Sherman said. “We’ll have everybody arguing back and forth. You’ll have politicians pandering to whichever group they want to pander to, and nothing will get done.”

La Jolla-based FS Investors has proposed a soccer stadium of 18,000-32,000 seats, surrounded by 4,800 housing units, 3.1 million square of commercial space, 450 hotel rooms and 55 acres of parkland. The group fashioned its master plan in the form of an initiative requiring nearly 72,000 city registered voters’ signatures that can be collected starting Wednesday. They hope to turn in their petitions by end of the April, get them certified by the end of May and ask for council approval in June.

Nick Stone, an FS Investor partner, said the timeline is tied to Major League Soccer’s plans to award four expansion franchises this year and FS is one of 12 bidders qualified to compete.

The council could approve the project on its own, refer it to the voters in a special election or wait until the June 2018 or November 2018 regularly scheduled election.

“If the council puts it on the ballot in 2018, MLS will have selected the teams and we’ll be dead,” Stone said.

He also raised the question of Qualcomm’s future if it ceases being used after San Diego State University’s football expires next year. He cited the state’s surplus property act that requires the first call on excess public land for development to go toward low- to moderate-income housing, followed by parks, school districts, neighborhood enterprise zones and, finally, transit-oriented developments, such as SoccerCity.

Stone shared a new rendering of the project and how a new NFL stadium might be built west of Qualcomm, which is pegged for demolition in the SoccerCity plan. He said an NFL franchise would have five years to negotiate a purchase of the 16-acre site; the team would be responsible for financing and overcoming any traffic impacts. But he said there is “real tension” between NFL use and housing and offices that would contribute to the regional tax base.

Prompted by one audience question, he said an alternative that would produce a soccer stadium and nothing else, pending competitive bids from rival developers, would not meet MLS desires for a sports-and-entertainment district.

“I don't think we'll secure an MLS franchise unless we can guarantee the league that we're not building a stadium in the middle of a parking lot next to Qualcomm,” he said.

Members of the audience asked about traffic impacts that have been calculated at more than double the congestion on Chargers game days. Stone said while more traffic is projected on a daily basis, more signals, lane improvements and other changes will mitigate any impact.

He also emphasized that the developers’ pledge to spend $40 million on the planned a 34-acre San Diego River Park, but only if the city approves a master lease by end of the year and all permits are secured within 18 months. FS also has committed to building 21 acres of other neighborhood parks and open spaces at the 166-acre site.

Delay could reduce the payment to $20 million or shift the burden onto the city to build the park — outcomes meant to incentivize the city to move quickly.

“One of the key wins we hope to deliver is the rapidly funded and constructed park for people who live in the community,” Stone said.

Any other developers would face about $50 million in park fees under the same development scenario. But they would pay the park fees in small increments as each phase or subdivision is built over an expected 10- to 20-year period.

The audience asked about SDSU’s desire for a new Aztec football stadium and whether the SoccerCity facility would be big enough to accommodate hoped-for larger crowds if the football program proves a winner on the national level.

Stone said the stadium could be enlarged to 40,000, although the university would have to bear the cost and added traffic and parking impacts. But he said soccer also could grow to require more than the minimum 18,000 seats that are initially planned.

“Those two things intersect really well,” he said. “You ‘de-risk’ it 10 to 15 years out, so expansion becomes less of an issue 10 to 15 years out.”

He said FS Investors and SDSU have been discussing design and deal points for several months but did not indicate any interest in sharing future expansion costs.

SoccerCity initiative

A campaign is set to kick off at noon Wednesday to gather more than 100,000 city registered voters’ signatures to meet the 72,000-minimum to put the SoccerCity proposal on the ballot or seek City Council approval.

Signature-gathering events are planned to take place at six locations during the day and evening. They are:

Hundreds of San Diego hotel workers marched in downtown San Diego to pressure Marriott hotels to improve pay and working conditions for low wage workers.

Hundreds of San Diego hotel workers marched in downtown San Diego to pressure Marriott hotels to improve pay and working conditions for low wage workers.

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Hundreds of San Diego hotel workers marched in downtown San Diego to pressure Marriott hotels to improve pay and working conditions for low wage workers.

Hundreds of San Diego hotel workers marched in downtown San Diego to pressure Marriott hotels to improve pay and working conditions for low wage workers.

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The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal law that bars gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states, giving states the go-ahead to legalize betting on sports.

The Supreme Court on Monday struck down a federal law that bars gambling on football, basketball, baseball and other sports in most states, giving states the go-ahead to legalize betting on sports.

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Viasat is a global communications company working to connect the unconnected throughout the world. As part of our mission, we're bringing low-cost, high-speed satellite internet to rural towns throughout Mexico. We believe that everyone, everywhere deserves the opportunity to add their voice to the global conversation. (Courtesy of Viasat)

Viasat is a global communications company working to connect the unconnected throughout the world. As part of our mission, we're bringing low-cost, high-speed satellite internet to rural towns throughout Mexico. We believe that everyone, everywhere deserves the opportunity to add their voice to the global conversation. (Courtesy of Viasat)

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San Diego has agreed to sell 16 lots in Nestor for $1 each, in the pursuit of affordable housing. The nonprofit San Diego Community Land Trust plans to build three and four-bedroom homes there for people with moderate incomes. That means a family of five with an income of up to $102,750.

San Diego has agreed to sell 16 lots in Nestor for $1 each, in the pursuit of affordable housing. The nonprofit San Diego Community Land Trust plans to build three and four-bedroom homes there for people with moderate incomes. That means a family of five with an income of up to $102,750.

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Toys R Us still sells about 20% of the toys bought in the U.S., according to an analyst at Jefferies LLC.

Toys R Us still sells about 20% of the toys bought in the U.S., according to an analyst at Jefferies LLC.